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Tricia Renshaw

Tricia Renshaw

Beverage Instructor & Winemaker

Where did you train / how did you acquire your knowledge?

I grew up in Pittsford, NY. After graduating from high school, I spent the next year as an exchange student in Belgium. My first 2 years of college were spent at Saint Mary's of Notre Dame, and the last 2 years at Nazareth. One of my spring semesters was spent in France, and I received a Diplôme d’Etudes Françaises, Deuxième Degré from L’Université Rennes 2 Haute Bretagne. Finally, I graduated from Nazareth in 1993 with a BA in French.

After years of working other jobs, I decided to take a risk and pursue my passion for wine and winemaking. In August 2005, I contacted Peter Bell at Fox Run to see if I could volunteer. I was originally hired as a harvest intern, but progressed to Assistant Winemaker, and then Winemaker. I learned so much from Peter and all of the winemakers in our community during my time at Fox Run. I was also encouraged to go back to school, so I did.

In the fall of 2005, I took a survey course offered through UC Davis' online program, and in the winter of 2006, I went to FLCC for College Chemistry. Over the next few years, I took four more online classes through UC Davis, and in 2011, I received a Winemaking Certificate from UC Davis. All in all, my time at Fox Run and in school provided me with an array of tools to make wines in a pristine, New World style.

I eventually left Fox Run to start my own winery, Venus Rising. While getting that up and running, I agreed to assist with the 2013 harvest at Hermann J. Wiemer (another great Finger Lakes winery!) This provided with the opportunity to work in a winery with an old-world focus, a lens I had come to find increasingly interesting over the past several years. In December 2013, I left Hermann Wiemer, focused on obtaining permits, and completed designs to launch my winery. Now I'll be making micro-sized batches of wine, mostly Riesling, so I can employ all of the intense, hand-on techniques that I love (which are only really feasible on a super small-scale)